‘I just wanted to take a few minutes to speak with you, because I’ll not be able to contact any of you during the next few days because of what’s happened.

‘I just wanted to thank you for the support that you’ve been giving me even though I’ve not seen any of you and spoken to any of you at all.

‘I have prayed constantly for Alan and I know that you have too.

‘I have not stopped crying for Alan, and I know that you have never stopped crying with me.

‘I have grieved over the evil that has been done and I know that you too have grieved over the evil that’s been done.

‘I have prayed for you and I know you have prayed for me.

‘I want to thank you because I really have sensed your very deep love and affection for me and I know that you’ve loved Alan, and I know that you’ve loved me deeply.

‘I want to say that you were Alan’s Christian family, and he loved belonging to this church, as I do too.

‘Just a little note to finish, because you all know that I love telling people about Jesus…

‘In the midst of our deep grief, I was sitting in the waiting room and a lady came in, and it irritated me, because I wanted to be by myself.

‘And I suddenly looked at her and thought, ‘she’s grieving like me’. And so I went over to her, and I said ‘what’s wrong?’ And she said ‘My husband’s got a brain tumour’.

‘And I said ‘how are you feeling about that?’

‘And she said ‘I don’t believe in a God at all that could allow this to happen’.

‘And God gave to me a wonderful moment, when I was able to say that ‘I believe in a God because at Christmas time he sent us a saviour and he can be your saviour too through all of the grief you’re going through’.

Later on she got her results for her husband and it was a benign tumour and she came to me and she hugged me. And she said ‘I’ll leave this place thinking about the fact that there’s a saviour of this world’.

‘And for me that was a great joy in the midst of my pain, because, Alan only died a few hours later.

‘I just wanted to say, I know that you love me and although I’ve not seen any of you, I’ve felt your love towards me. Thank you.’

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St Saviour in High Green, Sheffield following a prayer service for Alan Greaves who died after being attacked on his way to a Christmas Eve midnight mass (PA)

St Saviour in High Green, Sheffield following a prayer service for Alan Greaves who died after being attacked on his way to a Christmas Eve midnight mass (PA)

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Members of the congregation leave at St Saviour in High Green (PA)

Members of the congregation leave at St Saviour in High Green (PA)

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Mr Greaves was a stalwart of St Saviour in High Green, Sheffield (Picture: PA)

St Saviour in High Green, Sheffield following a prayer service for Alan Greaves (PA)

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A man walks past flowers left at the scene near St Saviour in High Green, Sheffield where Alan Greaves was attacked (PA)

A man walks past flowers left at the scene near St Saviour in High Green, Sheffield where Alan Greaves was attacked (PA)

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Flowers left at the scene near St Saviour in High Green, Sheffield where Alan Greaves was attacked (PA)

Flowers left at the scene near St Saviour in High Green, Sheffield where Alan Greaves was attacked (PA)

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Flowers left at the scene near St Saviour in High Green, Sheffield (PA)

Flowers left at the scene near St Saviour in High Green, Sheffield (PA)

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Flowers left at the scene near St Saviour in High Green, Sheffield where Alan Greaves was attacked (PA)

Flowers left at the scene near St Saviour in High Green, Sheffield where Alan Greaves was attacked while on his way to a Christmas Eve midnight mass. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo. Picture date: Sunday December 30, 2012. The 68-year-old grandfather, a lay preacher and organist at the church, was discovered by a member of the public, badly beaten, just yards from the church on Monday, but died from his head injuries in hospital on Thursday night. See PA story POLICE Mass. Photo credit should read: Jonathan Pow/PA Wire

Maureen Greaves gave a heartfelt tribute to late husband Alan (Picture: PA)